Expand wxString overview and document some problems due to its dual nature.
[wxWidgets.git] / interface / wx / clipbrd.h
1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
2 // Name: clipbrd.h
3 // Purpose: interface of wxClipboard
4 // Author: wxWidgets team
5 // RCS-ID: $Id$
6 // Licence: wxWindows licence
7 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
8
9 /**
10 The backwards compatible access macro that returns the global clipboard
11 object pointer.
12 */
13 #define wxTheClipboard
14
15 /**
16 @class wxClipboard
17
18 A class for manipulating the clipboard.
19
20 To use the clipboard, you call member functions of the global
21 ::wxTheClipboard object.
22
23 See the @ref overview_dataobject for further information.
24
25 Call wxClipboard::Open() to get ownership of the clipboard. If this
26 operation returns @true, you now own the clipboard. Call
27 wxClipboard::SetData() to put data on the clipboard, or
28 wxClipboard::GetData() to retrieve data from the clipboard. Call
29 wxClipboard::Close() to close the clipboard and relinquish ownership. You
30 should keep the clipboard open only momentarily.
31
32 For example:
33
34 @code
35 // Write some text to the clipboard
36 if (wxTheClipboard->Open())
37 {
38 // This data objects are held by the clipboard,
39 // so do not delete them in the app.
40 wxTheClipboard->SetData( new wxTextDataObject("Some text") );
41 wxTheClipboard->Close();
42 }
43
44 // Read some text
45 if (wxTheClipboard->Open())
46 {
47 if (wxTheClipboard->IsSupported( wxDF_TEXT ))
48 {
49 wxTextDataObject data;
50 wxTheClipboard->GetData( data );
51 wxMessageBox( data.GetText() );
52 }
53 wxTheClipboard->Close();
54 }
55 @endcode
56
57 @library{wxcore}
58 @category{dnd}
59
60 @see @ref overview_dnd, @ref overview_dataobject, wxDataObject
61 */
62 class wxClipboard : public wxObject
63 {
64 public:
65 /**
66 Default constructor.
67 */
68 wxClipboard();
69
70 /**
71 Destructor.
72 */
73 virtual ~wxClipboard();
74
75 /**
76 Call this function to add the data object to the clipboard. You may
77 call this function repeatedly after having cleared the clipboard using
78 Clear().
79
80 After this function has been called, the clipboard owns the data, so do
81 not delete the data explicitly.
82
83 @see SetData()
84 */
85 virtual bool AddData(wxDataObject* data);
86
87 /**
88 Clears the global clipboard object and the system's clipboard if
89 possible.
90 */
91 virtual void Clear();
92
93 /**
94 Call this function to close the clipboard, having opened it with
95 Open().
96 */
97 virtual void Close();
98
99 /**
100 Flushes the clipboard: this means that the data which is currently on
101 clipboard will stay available even after the application exits
102 (possibly eating memory), otherwise the clipboard will be emptied on
103 exit.
104
105 Currently this method is not implemented in X11-based ports, i.e.
106 wxGTK, wxX11 and wxMotif and always returns @false there.
107
108 @return @false if the operation is unsuccessful for any reason.
109 */
110 virtual bool Flush();
111
112 /**
113 Call this function to fill @a data with data on the clipboard, if
114 available in the required format. Returns @true on success.
115 */
116 virtual bool GetData(wxDataObject& data);
117
118 /**
119 Returns @true if the clipboard has been opened.
120 */
121 virtual bool IsOpened() const;
122
123 /**
124 Returns @true if there is data which matches the data format of the
125 given data object currently @b available on the clipboard.
126
127 @todo The name of this function is misleading. This should be renamed
128 to something that more accurately indicates what it does.
129 */
130 virtual bool IsSupported(const wxDataFormat& format);
131
132 /**
133 Returns @true if we are using the primary selection, @false if
134 clipboard one.
135
136 @see UsePrimarySelection()
137 */
138 bool IsUsingPrimarySelection() const;
139
140 /**
141 Call this function to open the clipboard before calling SetData() and
142 GetData().
143
144 Call Close() when you have finished with the clipboard. You should keep
145 the clipboard open for only a very short time.
146
147 @return @true on success. This should be tested (as in the sample
148 shown above).
149 */
150 virtual bool Open();
151
152 /**
153 Call this function to set the data object to the clipboard. This
154 function will clear all previous contents in the clipboard, so calling
155 it several times does not make any sense.
156
157 After this function has been called, the clipboard owns the data, so do
158 not delete the data explicitly.
159
160 @see AddData()
161 */
162 virtual bool SetData(wxDataObject* data);
163
164 /**
165 On platforms supporting it (all X11-based ports), wxClipboard uses the
166 CLIPBOARD X11 selection by default. When this function is called with
167 @true, all subsequent clipboard operations will use PRIMARY selection
168 until this function is called again with @false.
169
170 On the other platforms, there is no PRIMARY selection and so all
171 clipboard operations will fail. This allows to implement the standard
172 X11 handling of the clipboard which consists in copying data to the
173 CLIPBOARD selection only when the user explicitly requests it (i.e. by
174 selecting the "Copy" menu command) but putting the currently selected
175 text into the PRIMARY selection automatically, without overwriting the
176 normal clipboard contents with the currently selected text on the other
177 platforms.
178 */
179 virtual void UsePrimarySelection(bool primary = false);
180
181 /**
182 Returns the global instance (wxTheClipboard) of the clipboard object.
183 */
184 static wxClipboard *Get();
185
186 };
187